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Songs of Life and Love 



Washington Van Dusen 



}i 




Philadelphia 

Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company 

1899 






29699 



Copyright, 1899, 

BY 

Washington Van Dusen. 



All rights reserved. 
TW0Ji0Pl£&-8ee£IIV£0. 






APR 7 -1839 



^^ 







DEDICATED 

TO 

CARL WEBER, 

ARTIST. 

BY HIS FRIEND AND FORMER 
PUPIL 



THE AUTHOR. 



I SMALL edition of poems entitled 

I ''Immortelles and Other Poems" 

was printed in 1890, and circulated 
mainly among my friends. These are 
included in the present booklet, to- 
gether with a number now published 
for the first time. 

The Author. 

Philadelphia, March 3, 1899. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

REJOICE WITH ME 7 

THE HUMAN FACE DIVINE 8 

SPARE ME ONE IDOL 9 

THE TEMPLE OF LOVE 9 

THE HEIGHTS 11 

HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES 13 

HEAVEN IS NEAR US 14 

LITTLE ELAINE 16 

OUTWARD BOUND 17 

IN THE HARBOR 18 

ONLY A DREAM 19 

COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN 19 

PERFECT LOVE 21 

LOVE IS FAR AAV AY 22 

THE TOUCH OF SORROW 23 

BY THE SAND DUNES 23 

THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD 24 

LULLABY 25 

>llMMORTELLES 26 

^THE UNDERTOW 27 

^DRIFTING 28 

vHER MISSION 30 

* 5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

'' THE TWO SONGS 31 

'a song of love 32 

^ SEA DREAMS 33 

nIONCE a friend, a FRIEND FOREVER 34 

-^ WINTER'S ROSES 36 

■'■ IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 37 

THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 38 

j A LESSON FROM THE BROOK 39 

MY IDEAL 40 

•l LONGING 41 

•* THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 42 

^ THE CUP OF LIFE 43 

•^VOICES OF NATURE 44 

^TKE COMMON BOND 45 

''after THE STORM 46 

NiESTRANGED 47 

-"ALL'S WELL!" 49 

vj NEGLECTED 49 



REJOICE WITH ME. 

Rejoice with me by life's illimitable sea, 
That there are depths that ne'er can fathomed 

be! 
Soft music charms its dreamy, ideal shore ; 
Sweet visions come and go for evermore. 

Here could ^ve breathe with joy our lives away ; 

Each day a promise of a happier day, 

But Earth destroys our dreams and fancies 

fond. 
And leaves our Heaven evermore beyond. 

So, like a child, lured on by glorious skies. 
Our fair horizon leads us as it flies, 
To learn the vastness of this greater sea, 
Its unfathomed and unfathomable mystery ! 

O finite soul with infinite visions blessed. 
Thy life is grander than ever seer expressed ; 
E'er may thy tliought o'er this vast ocean soar. 
Nor weary pinions find a restful shore ! 

7 



8 THE HUMAN FACE DIVIXE. 

Rejoice with me, O man, that hope is thine ; 
That noble discontent is still divine ; 
That, spite of ills, of sorrow, want, and care, 
Love lives, and Love makes life forever fair I 



THE HUMAN FACE DIVIXE. 

How like an ancient temple overthrown, 
Its fires gone out, its columns all supine, 

Is that once fair, divinely tender face. 

Wherein the gods no longer own a shrine I 

Fair captive in a glorious ruin bound, 

How soon the world thy matchless beauty 
sears I 

How soon Desire turns nobler Thought away, 
Ajid Truth's pure fire grows colder with the 



THZ TEXIPLE OF LOVZ. ^ 

SPAPwE ME OXE IDOL. 

Break every image dear to my heart, 
Friendship forsake me, fortune depart; 
Spare me one idol ne'er to grow cold, 
Heaven will smile on me just as of old. 

Leave me one loving heart tender and pure; 
Leave me one sweetest dream aye to endure; 
Mar not ray vision with your cold eyes ; 
Leave me enwrapt with my roseate skies I 

Time, let thy dear enchantment still grow, 
Break not the spell that Love can but know; 
Whisper no fault where heaven doth seem. 
Let my heart rest in its beautiful dream. 



THE TEMPLE OF LOVE. 

I DEEA3IT I walked Love's sacred court. 

Fair Love without a peer, 
And humbly kneeling at her shrine, 

Besought her presence dear. 



10 THE TEMPLE OF LOVE. 

The curtains parted gently 

And a sweet voice greeted mine, 

But her look was only earthly, 
And I longed for the divine ! 

I turned aside and prayed again 
That Love would bless me there ; 

Another came beside me soon 
In answer to my prayer; 

But she loved Wisdom more than me, 

And, though surpassing fair, 
Her cold gaze had no charm for me; 

I left her in despair ! 

O Love, send not thy maidens fair. 

But come thyself to still 
The craving heart that longs for thee. 

Which thou alone canst fill ! 

Love heard my yearning, passionate cry, 

And in her queenly way 
She came, like Truth from heaven, divine, 

And I — was only clay ! 



THE HEIGHTS. 11 



THE HEIGHTS. 



While many linger in the lonely vale, 

Content with charms that greet each passer- 

by, 

A few adventurous youth march forth to scale 
The far-off peaks that raise their heads on 
high,— 
Those towering lieights that beckon eager eyes 
To grander outlooks and to boundless skies. 

Bright glows the sun upon those crests sublime, 
And, like a garden, smiles the vale below, 

As they press on in youth^s glad, fervid prime. 
With pnlse afire and faces all aglow; 

Whilst Beauty charms the hazy path in view, 

And Hope throws on the mist its rainbow hue, 

What though the pine-trees veil the skies in 
gloom, 

Dim grow the way, or barriers sternly bar? 
Ever and anon the distant mountains loom 

Supremely fair, and beckon from afar ! 



12 THE HEIGHTS. 

From morn till eve their towering summits 

thrill ! 
From morn till eve they tower above them 

still ! 

Once on the charmed path, nor toil nor care 
Can turn their eager feet from heights sub- 
lime ; 
Their rapt eyes see the rugged road grow fair 
Before them, leading upward as they climb, 
And far beyond — a crown o'er crests that 

swell — 
The highest glows, lone and inaccessible ! 

Dim grows the vale, and in the waning light 
They leave the travelled past, so lingered 
o'er. 

To view from thrilling outlooks on the height 
The hazy, boundless prospect spread before; 

Where earth and heaven softly blend and close. 

And this finite breathes that infinite's repose. 

The sinking sun floods o'er the golden west, 
And flames upon the snow-capped mount 
they scale; 



HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES. 13 

The twilight deepens on the purpling crest, 

And darker grows the overshadowed vale; 
The w^eary halt, and gaze with yearning eyes, 
Where hope still points beyond the fading skies. 

Lead on, resplendent Vision ! Not in vain 
The one sweet dream whose beauty never dies, 

Like a mirage comes o'er life's burning plain, 
Raising heavenward the traveller's drooping 
eyes ; 

And luring towards that dim, ideal shore 

Whose margin beckons onward evermore. 



HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES. 

I HAVE known full many a sorrow, 
I have felt full many a care, 

But still with hope look for the morrow, 
And find the world forever fair. 

The darkest night still has its morn ; 

Some star holds out to grim despair; 
A little patience, heart forlorn ; 

The sunrise comes and all is fair. 
2 



14 HEAVEN IS NEAR US. 

E'en though a friend has seared my heart, 
Love left a darkened world to view; 

Give me the faith to bear death's dart, 
And Hope lives on, and Beauty too. 

Some vaster plan than ours to know. 
Still draws us onward evermore; 

Urged by eternal hope we go 

Towards some unseen, ideal shore. 

Then fade sweet day, thy glories gone. 
Our stars in heaven will reappear ; 

Eternal Beauty leads us on 

And Heaven smiles while Beauty's here. 



HEAVEN IS NEAR US. 

Close on the border of your actual life, 

O dreamer, dwells your paradise of dreams ! 
There, vague and dim, it glows with beauty 
rife, — 
Your heaven is near, and yet so far it 
seems ! 



HEAVEN IS NEAR US. 15 

When Buddha, Jesus, Shakespeare, blessed the 
earth, 
The crowd passed by, nor knew those spirits 
fine; 
No chronicler took record of their birth. 

No sculptor paused to carve those forms 
divine. 

Perchance some angel fair will visit thee, 
And thou, unconscious of the boon she brings. 

Wilt never know how sweet her song might be. 
Till, all too late, your vision takes its wings ! 

Perchance of fairer lands, skies more serene. 
We dream, dumb to the glory round us 
thrown ; 

The while our golden sun goes down unseen. 
In all the splendor time has ever known ! 

So long we've dwelt in old familiar ways ; 

So wrapt in glory since our life begun ; 
Our eyes grow dim, like stars whose feeble 
rays 

Are lost in the blaze of an ascending sun. 



16 LITTLE ELAINE. 



LITTLE ELAINE. 



She came across our lonely life, 

And while we looked the clouds were gone ; 
A little frail and fading flower, 

She shed her fragrance and passed on ! 

Too young to feel a touch of guile, 
She gave her heart to one and all ; 

Like rain from heaven her welcome smile 
Blessed all alike, or great or small. 

She bloomed with more than earthly grace, 
A bloom that fades with riper years ; 

A light that shines in grander force. 
Once seen through unavailing tears. 

She lingered like the Autumn leaves 

Whose gold shines on through ominous days, 

And like the setting sun went down. 
To shine, a star beyond our gaze. 



OUTWARD BOUND. 17 



OUTWARD BOUND. 

I STEP aboard at last, and turn 

The crowded pier to view ; 
The great ship throbs from stem to stern,- 

My heart throbs strangely too; 

For one fair form my sight enthralls 

On that receding pier, 
And one sweet voice like music falls, — 

The last "good-by'' I hear. 

And still I gaze with lingering eyes 

On shores that kindly gleam. 
And still the hurrying steamer plies 

Adown the sparkling stream. 

The clustered spires, the marts that Time 

And endless traffic raise, — 
The motley ships of every clime 

Fade slowly in the haze. 



IN THE HARBOR. 

And so I turn with pensive eyes 
To gaze before the prow; 

I leave the past its fading skies, — 
The future leads me now. 

Sail on, good ship ; thy course is set 

Behold the broader way, 
And leave the past its vain regret, 

In the fulness of to-day ! 



IN THE HARBOR. 

Gone is the tempest, hushed are the billows. 
Lulled to a whisper the hurricane's blast ; 

Fair looms the shore and calm grow the waters. 
Smiling on dangers the good ship has passed, 
As we glide into the harbor at last. 

Fair looms the shore, and fairer its waters 
Shine in the after-glow, fading too fast ! 

Love, roam no more o'er life's restless ocean ! 
We have come to the harbor at last, — 
To the beautiful harbor at last ! 



COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. 19 

ONLY A DREAM. 

I DREAMT that I was loved by you, 
And all my life rose fair to view ; 
A charm on my glad spirit fell, 
My heart beat music to its spell. 

But when I woke to greet mine own, 
The vision fled ; I loved alone ; 
My heaven paled with day's bright glare, 
And left me but a world of care ! 

Only a dream, yet thou wert mine 
For one sweet hour, and life divine ! 
Only a dream, yet Heaven did seem 
To smile on me in that sweet dream. 



COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. 

Come in my dreams again. 

Love, as of yore ! 
Soft o'er my spirit dwell. 
Weave your enchanting spell 

Round me once more ! 



20 COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. 

Come, oh, come back to me, 

Dear, as of old ! 
Come with those melting eyes. 
Glimpses of summer skies. 

Sunshine and gold ! 

Come in my dreams again. 

Angel of light ! 
Come in thy beauty blest, 
Haunting my blissful rest, 

Charming the night. 

Come, oh, come back to me. 

If but in dreams ! 
Sunned in thy glowing smile. 
Let me, entranced awhile, 

Live in its beams ! 

Come in my dreams again. 

Love, as of yore ! 
Come with that look divine. 
Lift this poor heart of mine 

To heaven once more. 



PERFECT LOVE. 21 



PERFECT LOVE. 

Come to my heart, love ; shorn of woman's 

pride, 
Thou art its lord; the doors are open wide; 
Let in the light, whatever the chamber be ; 
No secret there but shall be known to thee. 

Take thou my soul, but let me also see 
Thy inner life, and all its mystery; 
The past that trailed its ermine in the mire, 
The living hope still fed with heavenly fire. 

Give all thy heart, that perfect love may be; 
Withhold from me, my own, no secret key, — 
Then may our lives like two glad waters run, 
Blend in one stream and be forever one. 

I am a woman, and my love to me 

Is all my treasure ; all I give to thee, — 

I put my soul in pain, oh, be thou true ! 

My yearning heart shall find its heaven in you ! 



22 LOVE IS FAR AWAY. 

LOVE IS FAR AWAY. 

She sits alone by the summer sea, 
Alone amidst the passing throng, — 

The skies are blue, and merrily 
The waves sing their eternal song; 

The waves sing to the maiden fair, 

While soft winds play with her golden hair, 
For Love is far away ! 

The sunbeams kiss her golden head. 

For Love is far away, away ; 
"The sea is beautiful," she said, 

"And pours out music all the day; 
But ah, to me how sad the strain ! 
My heart is filled with desolate pain, 
For Love is far away !" 

But sweet the night that brings her rest, 

And sweet her dreams in the moon's pale rays. 

When Love looks down on her heaving breast 
And the heaven is near for which she prays ; 

The moonbeams play on her golden hair. 

But fade, like her dreams, with dawn and care, 
And Love is far away ! 



BY THE SAND DUNES. 23 



THE TOUCH OF SORROW. 

The muse sang every song in vain, 
No spell hung on the listless air; 

The crowd paused not; the dull refrain 
Woke no responsive echo there. 

She dropped her tuneless harp and wept, — 
What cliarm could reach the heart's strange 
core ? 

Lo, Sorrow came; the chords she swept 
To thrill the world for evermore ! 



BY THE SAND DUNES. 

Here let me rest by the gold glinting shore. 
Where I first felt the spell of old Ocean's 
weird lay ; 
Here let me rest till the sunset is o'er, 

And dream, fondly dream of the days passed 
away ! 



24 THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD. 

Once my spirits were bright as the billows 
that rolled 
With their foaming Avhite crests on the head- 
land near me ; 
And the future unrolled with its castles of 
gold, 
And Hope leaped its bounds like a storm- 
driven sea ! 

Here let me rest by the lowly sand hills 

\yhere my childhood was lulled by the 
ocean's wild dirge; 

Here let me dream till her voice again thrills, 
And its music is blent with the song of the 



THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD. 

To show me how beautiful life could be, 

God gave me a flower 

To bloom for an hour, 
With a beauty I never more shall see ! 



LULLABY. 25 

She came like the fairest from heaven to me; 

She came like a flower 

To bloom for an hour, 
To show me how beautiful life could be ! 



LULLABY. 



Soft be thy slumbers, 

Innocence blest; 
Song^s tenderest numbers 

Lull thee to rest ! 

Sleep on in beauty, 
Loved and caressed; 

Dear is my duty 
Guarding thy rest. 

Sweet incompleteness, 

Life ever fair ; 
Time in thy fleetness. 

Touch her with care I 



26 IMMORTELLES. 

IMMORTELLES. 

O MODEST flower! recall the grace 
Of one who loved and gathered thee ; 

For thou art now the only trace 

That brings her memory back to me. 

The immortelles all withered lie 

That once, like snow-flakes, charmed my gaze ; 
The only flowers that never die 

Are memories of happy days. 

Alas I so changed with years we grow, — 
So soon are bloom and beauty o'er, — 

We might pass by and never know 
The face that haunted us of yore. 

Life's river hurries on each houi', 
And turns to new scenes evermore; 

And leaves behind some cherished flower, 
To fade on Time's receding shore. 

Time, take these crumbled flowers and sever 
The last endearing charm from me ; 

But in my heart, oh, leave forever 
The immortelles of memorv ! 



THE UVDERTOW. 



THE U^DEETOW. 

We gaze npon the sunlit sea. 

But cannot 5<ian the depths below, 

Xor dream how strong its poise may be. 
Until we feel its undertow. 

We may know well a sunny face. 
But not the silent tide below; 

The inner grace we cannot trace, 
We know not what the undertow. 

Our life is more than we yet see ; 

There still are greater depths to know; 
The surfeee beautiful may be, 

But grander is the undertow. 

We cannot fathom all the strife. 
The mysteries that round us flow; 

We only have a taith in life. 
We onlv teel the undertow. 



28 DRIFTING. 

DRIFTING. 

Gently flows the peaceful river, 
Smiling with the sunny day, 

While my little boat is drifting 
Calmly on its idle way. 

Many hurry by me swiftly, — 
Some in pity, some in pride; 

While adown the placid waters 
I go drifting with the tide. 

Time enough when rapids near me. 
Or breakers dash my barque aside, 

To seize tlie oars and bravely 

Through the foaming torrent ride. 

But why now mar this rest so tranquil. 
Why forget this joyous day. 

Leaving flowery banks, though narrow. 
Urging for the broader way? 

Let me check my course a moment. 
Let me drift awhile and dream; 

Ah! my boat may glide so slowly. 
Yet too soon be down the stream ! 



DRIFTING. 29 

Careless of the shores beyond me, 

What shoals, what tempests, I must bide; 

Knowing that the stream must bear me, 
And I cannot change the tide; 

Let me, like some trustful swimmer. 

Resting on the salty brine. 
With my eyes upon the heavens. 

Calmly on life's wave recline; 

Till a hush falls on the waters, 

And a calm breathes from the skies, 

As the western sun, descending, 
Gilds the day that slowly dies ; 

And the great Sea spreads before me. 

While its fading heaveus wide 
Calmly shed a parting glory 

In the golden eventide. 



30 HER MISSION. 

HER MISSION. 

She drew no form with matchless skill, 
She carved no sculptured bust of stone, 

She sang no song fame's voice to fill, 
Nor swept the keys with thrilling tone ; 

But cast herself in finer mould : 

She finely touched the hearts of men 

To see the flower of truth unfold, 
And bloom on earthy soil again. 

She came the passing crowd among, — 
It seemed to breathe diviner air; 

Her smile disarmed the idler's tongue, 

Who turned and blessed her with a prayer 

Reflecting heaven in her face, 

Men gazed and took new heart the while ; 
Sorrow owned her kindly grace, 

And Envy dropped its frown to smile. 

What matter that no special task 
Was hers amid life's toil and strife? 

She gave earth all that Heaven could a§k : 
Her presence was the bread of life. 



THE TWO SONGS. • 31 

THE TWO SONGS. 

The sea was calm, the waves, with muffled 
roar, 

Sang dirges in an undertone ; 
But time, unmoved, lay on the drowsy shore, 

Nor cared to hear the surges moan. 

Like words that softly breathe a fond desire, 
But fail the heart's great depths to reach. 

Wave after wave sang, only to retire 
Unheeded from the tranquil beach. 

But ere the setting sun sank to repose 
A gale swept o'er the swelling sea, 

And mountain high the crested breakers rose 
And sang their grandest melody ! 

And time now brightened with the foaming 
surge. 

And heard with thrilling pulse once more 
The long-resounding breaker's soQg and dirge 

That rang upon the wild, wild shore ! 



32 . A SONG OF LOVE. 

So, thrilling words and melodies sublime 
Roll from the flood of years passed o'er ; 

Borne like a surge upon the shores of time, 
To ring in memory evermore ! 



A SONG OF LOVE. 

She swept the sweet chords with a tremulous 
tone, 

And thrilled all my soul with the strain. 
As it rose with the promise of infinite bliss, 

And sighed out its burden of pain. 

" Forever," she sang, ^^ the heart, like the sea, — 
Breathing a song that will never be stilled, — 

Restlessly yearns for a love not to be, 
With a longing that will never be filled. 

"Oh, love, why do you come with a rapturous 
kiss, 

And wound me with promises vain? 
Why, with the key-note of infinite bliss. 

Comes the burden of infinite pain ?" 



SEA DKEAMS. 33 



SEA DREAMS. 

'Tis a beautiful day, and the sliips far away 

Sail over the sea till they vanish froru me; 
And the waves seem to say, Oh, dream while 
you may, 
While the springtide of youth overflows like 
the sea. 

Some one by my side is watching the tide 
And the white-caps that roll from the far- 
away blue ; 
In sweet silence I bide, while the glad moments 
glide. 
And love breathes a dream that hope would 
prove true. 

Ah, so sweet here to rest, with the one I love 
best. 
While the surges roll high and the cool 
breezes blow ; 
Till the orb in the west sinks slowly to rest. 
And sheds its sweet calm on the waters below. 



34 ONCE A FRIEND, A FRIEND FOREVER. 

Life flows on complete like the day full and 

sweet ; 

Joy swells every shore of being's strange sea ; 

And but comes one regret, that the day now 

to set 

Must so soon with its beauty vanish from me. 

Oh, beautiful day, how fain would I stay 
The lingering rays on thy gold-gleaming 
shore ! 
But the hours speed away like the Avaves that 
to-day 
Roll from their depths to return nevermore. 



ONCE A FRIEND, A FRIEND FOR- 
EVER. 

Once thou wert happy by my side. 
Now oceans roll our path between. 

And fate has sundered far and wide . 

The hope, the love that might have been. 



ONCE A FRIEND, A FRIEND FOREVER. 35 

Still, something lives time cannot sever, 
And from its volume, old and gray, — 
Remembering a happier day, — 
I turn the faded leaves and say. 

Once a friend, a friend forever. 

Bound with my life inseparable 

Are happy days once spent with you; 

And though the loss be now irreparable, 
And friendships old give place to new, 

Why should a careless word dissever 
The sweet remembrance of the true ? 
No, no ! my heart still follows you. 
Where'er you roam 'neath heaven's blue; 

Once my friend, my friend forever! 

Your picture hangs upon the wall 

Just as of old, and fair to view ; 
So, through time's flight and changes all. 

Lives something still unchanged to you. 
Live with my past ! may memory never 

Lose all the bloom and save the thorn. 

Nor from divided heart be torn 

The flower of friendship, which, once worn. 
May leave its fragrance there forever. 



36 winter's roses. 



WINTER'S ROSES. 

Lo ! a window filled with roses 
Beams upon the snow-clad street; 

And my eye with joy reposes 
On the loveliness I meet; 

Whilst the wintry breezes blow, 

And around me falls the snow. 

But what roses charm my gaze 

With an ever-hardy bloom, 
Cheer the streets on cheerless days, 

Sending sunshine through the gloom ! 
Whilst the wintry winds that blow 
Give their cheeks a rosier glow. 

O sweet roses, in your prime, 
Cherish youth before it's past! 

Wait not till the touch of time 
Robs you of your bloom at last; 

Shed your fragrance now upon 

Friends who live when beauty's gone ! 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD. 37 

IN THE GARDEN OF GOD. 

I TRAMPLED down a little flower 
One day, in idle sport and mirth ; 

But its ashes held a secret power, — 
Another bloomed and blessed the earth. 

I cast aside a heavy stone, 

But knew not then the ore I rolled; 
And cursed the dust, as I walked alone. 

Unconscious of its hidden gold. 

I shouted on the evening breeze, — 
I marred the calm and sacred air; 

It breathed in cadence through the trees, 
And held me captive unaware. 

Truth came to me with air divine, 
But I mocked her form and features fine; 
Till her face, transfigured in the light. 
Assumed new splendor in my sight. 

I saw the Keeper, and He said. 

Go where you like, do what you will ; 

The truth will hover o'er your head, 
The earth will bloom in beauty still. 
4 



38 THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 



THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 

The shades of night fall on my way, 
And darkness holds its gloomy sway, 
While spectres strange my vision greet, 
And graves lie open at my feet; 
The chilling winds against my face 
Enfold me in their cold embrace ; 
Doubt and despair close at my heel, — 
What hope, what pleasure can I feel, 
While through this tangled maze alone 
I tread my way with heart of stone? 

A gentle voice falls on my ear, — 

Love cries, " Take heart, for I am here ! 

I am the sun that lights the soul, — 

Earth's central fire that warms the whole ; 

I keep the life that heaven instils 

Firm as the everlasting hills : 

The sun, the warmth, the light, the fire, 

I give the zest to all desire. 

Come, take my hand, and thou shalt-see 

That heaven itself must lean on me.'' 



A LESSON FROM THE BROOK. 39 



A LESSON FROM THE BROOK. 

A BROOK ran merrily down the mountain-side 
As free and careless as a wayward child, 

Until a rock debarred its rushing tide 

And backward hurled its restless waters wild. 

But still the brook pursued its winding way, 
And only paused to shed a passing foam, 

As on the stubborn rock it dashed its spray. 
And hurried swiftly from its mountain home. 

And still, unmindful in its idle bed. 

The rock slept on through centuries untold. 

Whilst evermore upon its helpless head 
The sandy torrent and the pebbles rolled. 

The years have passed; and now those waters 
flow 

In silence o'er the head of fallen pride; 
For on the sand the wave- worn rock lies low, — 

A remnant 'neath the ever-moving tide! 



40 MY IDEAL. 

So lowly merit carves its rugged way, 
And passes o^er each barrier of time ; 

So patience smooths the road, day after day, 
Till silent perseverance grows sublime. 



MY IDEAL. 



O LOVELY spirit, form divine ! 

Though I may never see 
Thy face by day, I'll not repine 

If night brings dreams of thee. 

Like some sweet song, some far-off swell 

That charms a moment rare. 
Thy phantom presence throws its spell 

And melts upon the air. 

Then lovely spirit, form divine. 

Still disembodied be ; 
Day mars the heart that wonld be thine; 

Come in my dreams to me! 



LONGING. 41 



LONGING. 



Like a restless sea^ whose surges 
Would kiss the vaulted skies, 

My longing heart leaps upward 
Only to fall with baffled cries. 

Yearning with restless endeavor 
And hopes alluring and vain, 

Soaring with passion to heaven. 
And falling in passionate pain. 

Streams of life pouring Avithin me 
Like the rivers that run to the sea; 

Still, like the sea, yearning, unsated. 
Unrest takes possession of me. 

Oh, love, come with thy fulness of spirit 
Filling the void existing in me, 

Till my life, like a wave universal. 
Laps every shore of life's infinite sea. 



42 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

Stand not on the banks bewailing 
That the stream flows not thy w^ay ; 

All thy grief is unavailing, — 

This is the tide that serves to-day. 

"Nay, the current stern defying, 
Still the waters roar and rage ; 

Give us back the faith undying 
Of our fathers' golden age.'' 

Vain thy backward stroke and struggle, 

While the tide, resisting thee. 
Casts its spray and breaks the bubble, 

And every drop will reach the sea. 

" Nay, but Error's shoal's ahead ; 

And, where lights that once beamed true, 
Beacons strange now shine instead. 

And truth is lost to view." 



THE CUP OF LIFE. 43 

Nay, this is the stream of truth, 

And its current evermore 
Sweeps aside and leaves in ruth 

Error's driftNvood on the shore. 

Then, sweep onward, mighty river, 
With thy good and evil powers ; 

Lo ! thy course is from the Giver, 
And in higher hands than ours. 



THE CUP OF LIFE. 

A COOLING drink may quench the thirst, 
A night of slumber rest the brain, 

A little food may hunger still, 

A balm may ease the throb of pain. 

But who drinks life's cup will ne'er be full. 
Nor can the baffled thought find rest; 

The longing heart will ne'er cease to crave. 
Nor the mind be eased of its endless quest. 



44 VOICES OF NATURE. 



VOICES OF NATURE. 

Come, though fortuDe close her gates to thee, 
And fame refuse thy proffered name obscure ; 

Come where the portals swing forever free, 
And mansions rise whose beauty shall endure. 

The forest monarchs, — pillars of a race 

That wreathe w^ith green the vault of heaven's 
blue, — 

From heights serene, breathe down a quiet grace : 
A sigh, a song, perhaps a word for you. 

By roaring cataract and silent dell, 

By rocky gorge and tuneful ocean's strand, 

There voices breathe what volumes cannot tell. 
There is the wealth cast by the Master's hand ! 

'No lowly flower that you pass heedless by, 
No moaning pine nor merry bird that sings, 

But woos your yearning heart's despondency 
And courts the slumbering love of purer 
things. 



THE COMMON BOND. 45 

And yet his glowing touch unheeded dies, 
His music falls unheard on drowsy ears ; 

The tuneless chords within give no replies, 
Like slackened strings unmoved by joy or 
tears. 

Then sing, strange voices by the sounding shore. 
Where ocean's heaving surge is ceaseless 
strewn, — 

Roll out in mournful dirges evermore 

That something in man's life is out of tune ! 



THE COMMON BOND. 

You may soar to heights elysian, 
And think beyond the common ken, 

But the lowly crowd has claims on you 
To be a man among men. 

Dream of a life without the world. 

But know the bond that binds you when 

You kindly take each proffered hand, 
And be a man among men. 



46 AFTER THE STORM. 



AFTER THE STORM. . 

Cold, cold, and desolate the bleak earth lies, 
And the sea grows dark while the sullen skies 

Outpour 
Their watery floods, and the wild winds urge 
The maddened sea w^ith its foamino^ suro;e 

To the shore. 

And my heart grows w^eary Avith the sad refrain 
Of the dying waves repeating one strain 

O'er and o'er. 
But a cheering gleam illumes the west, 
And behold, on the billows' far-off crest 

Sunbeams pour ! 

Tlien, crowning all the glorious v^iew^. 

The bow of heaven spans the skies clear blue 

As of yore; 
And brighter rolls the crested surge. 
But changeless rings the song and dii^e 

On the shore. 



ESTRANGED. 47 

So life, like a wave, in sunshine or rain, 

Is borne from the depths of the limitless main 

To the shore ; 
And its mists may veil heaven, vet hold to our 

eyes 
The bright arch of hope on the eternal skies 

Evermore. 



ESTRANGED. 



Her heart has changed, Avhile mine, the same. 

Is constant as the yearning sea, 
Yet sinks to watch the dying flame 

That cheered and w^armed the heart of me. 

Love was the bond between us twain. 
And love possessed the magic key ; 

But some link in the golden chain 
Has parted life and love for me ! 

I censure not the heart estranged, — 
Love may be firm, but must be free; 

I only sigh to think w^heii changed, 

She changed, — she changed the world for me ! 



48 "all's well!" 



"ALL'S WELL!" 

Lo ! I walk beside the river, 

While the stars shine in the sky, 

And the moonbeams gently quiver 
On the waters flowing by. 

And the great ships lie before me, 
Calmly sleeping on the tide ; 

And a peacefulness comes o'er me 
That I wish would long abide. 

Hark ! far o'er the waters stealing, 
Faintly sounds a distant bell, 

And a voice stirs all my feeling 
As it answers back, " All's well !" 

And the peace of nature fills me. 
And the chords within that swell 

Echo, whilst that greeting thrills me, 
Heaven's watchword, — " All is well !" 



NEGLECTED. 49 



NEGLECTED. 

A VIOLET by the roadside grew 

Unnoticed and alone, 
Among the wild flowers basking there, 

Beside a mossy stone. 

AYhat hart it that the passers-by 

No kindly glances threw, 
Still smiled the snu, and from the sky 

Still came the freshening dew. 

So, scorned by pride of place or birth. 

The truth may lowly lie, 
Yet feel the warmth born not of earth, 

And let the world pass by. 



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